1 of 3
Photo by Erin Nelson.
The former Days Inn site on U.S. 31 in Vestavia Hills on Sept. 14.
2 of 3
Map courtesy of the City Vestavia Hills.
A map highlights the propsed expansion of the potential redevelopment area to 10 acres on U.S. 31.
3 of 3
Illustration courtesy of city of Vestavia Hills.
A “preliminary vision” sketch for the lower section of U.S. 31 near the entrance to Vestavia Hills from Hoover.
The lower section of U.S. 31 has been a major concern for Vestavia Hills city leadership for several years.
However, with the demolition of the old Days Inn property now complete, a comprehensive city master plan in place and new plans being drawn up for the Days Inn and adjacent properties, a vision for this problematic section of Montgomery Highway is coming into focus.
The history
The U.S. 31 portion of the city’s master plan centers around 3½ acres most recently occupied by a Days Inn hotel, with a leased restaurant and bar space on the ground floor called Bar 31. City Manager Jeff Downes said the city has been attempting to address issues as the hotel devolved into a blight on the community.
“The hotel, as it was not reinvested in and as the nightly rates dropped, became an attractive nuisance, and that attractive nuisance brought criminal activities,” Downes said.
In recent years, the city’s Police Department spent an inordinate amount of time and resources responding to criminal behavior at the Days Inn, he said. In addition to the public safety concerns, the hotel stood in the way of potential economic development in the area.
“This property sat at a key gateway to our community. Our most well-traveled and strong business corridor is Highway 31, and that eyesore was an impediment to the existing strong businesses in the area. And, every time we tried to bring somebody to town to look at investing in that general area, they would note the eyesore sitting over there in the way of the Days Inn,” Downes. “We couldn’t sit back and play a passive role any longer.”
Over time, Downes said city leaders realized there were no potential buyers interested in purchasing the property. In 2020, Downes said the city began serious negotiations with the property’s owners and explored purchasing through a third-party broker to hide the city’s identity.
After two years of attempts, the city finally convinced the owners to sell the hotel for $3.6 million in August 2022, which included a buyout of Bar 31’s lease. Additionally, Downes said city leaders wanted to ensure the property would be put to a new purpose and invested approximately $500,000 into engineering, design and demolition of the structure, completed in the spring of this year.
Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry said he is thrilled to finally see some positive activity in the area, which had become a major source of frustration for the city.
“I am extremely excited about the potential for Highway 31 after years of what we saw down there and what we knew was going on,” the mayor said. “If we can fill in that little puzzle piece down on 31 with fresh businesses, restaurants, green space, an entertainment venue, that will fulfill what myself and this council has envisioned for the city.”
Planning the future
Downes said seeking input from residents and other stakeholders is an important piece in shaping the final project.
“As you look at it, now you have a clean site that is ripe for some type of redevelopment,” Downes said. “When the city owns assets and real estate, utilizing a planning process on the front end to get a vision for what the property could be is extremely important.
“The worst thing in the world for me is a planning exercise and developing a planning book that sits on a shelf and gains dust,” he said.
This March, the city had a three-day planning and public comment period known as a charrette. It included a series of events and discussions to learn what the community wanted, including everything from street signage and general landscaping to the types of businesses and gathering spaces.
Next, a group of experts — including architects, engineers, economic development specialists and other stakeholders — weighed in to develop the plan and, more importantly, to determine its viability.
The responses gathered during the charrette were varied and informative but boiled down to three basic categories: high-end hospitality, a vibrant and diverse retail experience and what is known as experiential retail, such as a TopGolf location or amphitheater for live music and events.
Downes said the charrette returned some positive feedback and created an exciting vision for the city, but it also presented some challenges.
“We could maybe do retail; maybe we could do separate hospitality, that is, a hotel; or maybe we could do an experiential outdoor concert venue type thing with a dining option, but we couldn’t do it all,” he said.
The charrette not only provided a blueprint for the types of businesses Vestavia residents wanted but also the environment they desired, he said.
“How can you fit all three together? How can you bring in the right hospitality, the right village-scale retail and the right type of experiential retail?” Downes said. “You need to find some green space, have pedestrian connectivity, consider shared parking, and we could not do all of this with the 3.5-acre site that we own. So we had to convince others to see if they would join in.”
To fully implement the entire vision, the city would need at least 5 acres — and several owners of adjacent businesses — to cooperate.
As of press time, Steve Issis of Issis & Sons Furniture, Joey Moore of Moore Oil Co., which owns the Vestavia Citgo gasoline station next to the old hotel site, and the owners of some nearby unused property have expressed interest in cooperating with the city to bring the U.S. 31 portion of the master plan to life, Downes said.
If all of the various pieces of property can be assembled, the available land would increase from 3.5 acres to between 9 and 10 acres, easily enough room to accommodate the vision, Downes said. While negotiations with the property owners are ongoing, Downes said he is encouraged by their positive reaction to the project.
“They said, ‘We see the big vision; we see this is an opportunity for mutual benefit,’” Downes said. “The conversation was, ‘We might sell; we might be a joint venture partner and contribute our land in an equity play into a bigger development. Let’s just see where it goes.’”
Michelle Hawkins, president and CEO of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce, said the redevelopment will not only bring new businesses to the area, but also will create a vibrant community that is sorely needed in the area.
“We see so much potential, and I think this will open so many possibilities for retail and new restaurants in the area,” she said. “We are truly thrilled for the city of Vestavia Hills.”
While the project is focused on the 10 acres surrounding the former Days Inn property, Hawkins believes the redevelopment has the potential to spur existing businesses and shopping centers to follow suit.
“I think it’s going to be an encouragement to other businesses to step up,” she said. “It becomes contagious because it’s the new place to be, so I believe other businesses will take advantage of that positive growth and energy.”
The demolition of the Days Inn and the charrette process sparked excitement for the redevelopment throughout Vestavia’s business community, especially among businesses positioned along the lower section of U.S. 31.
Craig Alverson, a mortgage loan representative with Liberty Mortgage, is among those who believe the redevelopment will be a welcome shot in the arm to the area. Alverson’s father, Jud, started Liberty Mortgage in 1985 and purchased its current building in the Williamsburg Office Park 31 years ago. He said the redevelopment of the property is needed to ensure the sustainability of the business community in the area.
“I think the redevelopment of the former Days Inn property will continue the momentum to, hopefully, capitalize private investment and lead to further sustainability of the Highway 31 corridor,” Alverson said.
Steve Mote, CEO of Hollywood Outdoor Living, echoes Alverson’s thoughts. Located just half a mile from the former Days Inn, Mote said he is interested to see what replaces the hotel and how it will benefit the city.
“I’m excited to see the old Days Inn location turn into something that will enhance the Vestavia community,” he said.
“My father worked for South Central Bell for 39 years, and they had a temporary office near that location. I always think of him when I drive by, and I look forward to seeing what it becomes,” Mote said. “It’s in a great location, right off I-65 and Highway 31, so the new business will likely get lots of traffic and interest.”
New developments
Following the charrette process, the city asked some interested developers to share their qualifications for doing this kind of redevelopment work and accepted responses on July 10.
Downes said the city met with nine entities, laying out the requirements to be considered. In the end, Downes said the city received proposals from Village Creek Development and a joint venture of EDS America and CBRE.
During a special work session in July, the Vestavia Hills City Council authorized Downes to move forward with Village Creek Development. Village Creek has an extensive portfolio, including involvement in the redevelopment of Pizitz Food Hall and Pepper Place in downtown Birmingham and redevelopment efforts underway along Oxmoor Road in West Homewood.
Downes said the first step in the process is for Village Creek to begin negotiations with the four property owners to assemble the 10 acres needed for the development. Those negotiations began in earnest in August, he said.
The charrette process also created momentum for additional enhancement along the lower portion of U.S. 31. For instance, at press time, a project was in the design and permitting phase for a multi-tenant development on the old Vestavia Motor Lodge property, just a few hundred feet north of the charrette-focused site. Downes said the project will be anchored by new Big Bad Breakfast and Waldo’s Chicken & Beer locations.
“So all of a sudden, we started out with one site of 3.5 acres, we got momentum for 10 acres of development and a future development along the way here,” Downes said. “This came about during the charrette.”
Additionally, Downes said city leaders want to improve the city’s gateway from the temple at the south entrance of the city, just off Interstate 65 heading north on U.S. 31. The charrette produced design concepts including a retaining wall and pedestrian access as part of the overall development. The City Council approved a landscaping plan to help beautify that section of the highway during its Aug. 14 meeting.
The $118,000 project was awarded to Environmental Design Studio, a Birmingham-based landscape architecture and site planning firm with a portfolio including the Shades Creek Pool and projects in the Ross Bridge development. The project includes the design of pedestrian plaza areas and highway medians, as well as entry gateway improvements.
